Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring The Effects Of Witnessing Family Violence In Childhood Among South Asians In America, Chiroshri Bhattacharjee

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Incidents of domestic violence and its transgenerational impact within the South Asian community, although prevalent, are often dismissed as peripheral concerns due to various sociocultural and internalized psychological factors . This study explored the long-term effects of witnessing three types of interparental violence (psychological aggression, physical aggression, and injury) on participants’ self-esteem, attachment style, and conflict resolution abilities as adults. Cultural values conflict unique to the South Asian American community was used as a moderator to assess the relationship between participants’ self-esteem and degree of violence witnessed. Eighty-seven self-identified South Asian American women (age range = 20–40 years, M = …